Vietnamese woman in Kim Jong Nam murder case arrives home

Hanoi (AFP) - A Vietnamese woman who stood trial for the
assassination of the North Korean leader's half-brother arrived
home Friday, bringing down the curtain on a dramatic and often
bizarre two-year murder mystery.

Kim Jong Nam, the estranged relative of Kim Jong Un who was
once seen as heir apparent to the North's leadership, died in
agony after having his face smeared with a banned nerve agent
as he waited at Kuala Lumpur airport in February 2017.

The sensational killing made headlines around the world and
sparked a furious diplomatic row as Seoul accused Pyongyang of
an elaborate plot to murder a figure who had spent years in
exile and been critical of his family's rule.

Doan Thi Huong from Vietnam and Indonesian national Siti Aisyah
were arrested after being spotted on CCTV approaching Kim, but
they always denied murder.

The women instead insisted they were tricked into carrying out
the hit by North Korean agents, who told them it was a reality
TV show prank and fled Malaysia after the killing.

The Vietnamese suspect was met by throngs of reporters at
Hanoi's Noi Bai airport Friday evening, saying she was relieved
to be home and happy to start her next chapter.

"I am so happy to come back to my country," said Huong, wearing
large sunglasses as she arrived home with her Malaysian
lawyers.

"I don't know what I will do but I want to be on stage, like an
actress -- that's what I want."

- 'I felt so lonely' -

Huong and Aisyah were both on trial in Malaysia for the Cold
War-style killing, but in March, prosecutors dropped the murder
charge against Aisyah after diplomatic pressure and she flew
home.

Last month, they withdrew murder charges against 30-year-old
Huong, who pleaded guilty to a reduced count of "causing
injury" and was told she would be released in May at the end of
her sentence.

The Vietnamese former hair salon worker left her rice farming
village after secondary school, raising eyebrows with her funky
fashions and edgy hairstyles.

Clips of her on Vietnam Idol soon circulated online, along with
unverified footage of her kissing the star of a popular Vietnam
YouTube channel.

More than two years after her arrest, Huong was freed from
prison outside the Malaysian capital early Friday before her
flight back home later in the day.

She recalled her days in jail and said she planned to go to
church now that she is free.

"I felt so lonely and I missed my home so much -- that was my
most fearful feeling. I cried all the time," she told reporters
before being whisked away in a van.

- 'True killers escaped justice' -

While there is relief for the women, no one else is in custody
over the murder and those behind the plot are unlikely to ever
be punished.

"The assassins have not been brought to justice," said Huong's
lawyer Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, adding the women's legal teams
consistently argued that four North Koreans who fled Malaysia
after the killing, and were charged in absentia, were the real
murderers.

The women were arrested after they were captured on airport
CCTV cameras walking up behind Kim as he waited for a flight.
One was seen clasping her hands over his face.

Kim died quickly, his face smeared with poison.

The women, who faced death by hanging if convicted of murder,
went on trial in October 2017 but the case was slow-moving due
to the large number of witnesses and appeals from the defence
teams.

The defence stage of the trial had been due to get underway in
March before prosecutors suddenly dropped charges against
Aisyah, 27, following intense diplomatic pressure from the
Indonesian government.

Vietnam then stepped up pressure for Huong's murder charge to
be dropped and at the start of April, prosecutors offered her
the lesser charge, paving the way for her release.

Vietnam's foreign ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang welcomed
her return home, saying on Twitter she was "glad" Huong had
been released and was "reunited with her family".

Pyongyang has never admitted to killing Kim Jong Nam -- it
claims the dead man was a North Korean citizen named Kim Chol
-- and that the accusations were a smear campaign.

The assassination sparked a furious row between North Korea and
Malaysia, previously one of nuclear-armed Pyongyang's few
allies, and prompted both countries to expel each other's
ambassadors.

Ties have improved in recent times, however, with Malaysia
saying it plans to reopen its embassy in Pyongyang, which was
closed shortly after the murder.

"The defendant took advantage of them emotionally and sexually," Assistant U.S....

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